AJ Capital Partners’ Graduate Hotels brand found predominantly on or beside major college campuses across the United States has found a preferred-equity investor in Acore Capital, Los Angeles, which is lending about US$200 million to the Chicago-based operator, Bloomberg reported this week.
With 32 properties in the U.S. and U.K., Graduate’s real estate asset value reportedly exceeds US$2.1 billion.
“Warren [de Haan, founder, MD and co-CEO) and Acore have been wonderful partners of ours for a long time,” AJ Capital Partners Founder and CEO Ben Weprin told HOTELS on Wednesday. “We are grateful to continue the relationship and appreciate their support. We are coming out of this mess stronger than when we went in and excited about our openings this year in New York (Roosevelt Island), East Lansing, Michigan, and in Oxford and Cambridge in the U.K.”
In February, Bloomberg reported AJ Capital started seeking out a strategic partner to aid growth and pay down debt. It was the same month Acore raised US$1 billion to make investments in North American hotels, focusing on senior loans, mezzanine debt and preferred equity.